In order of reading them: Jstro, as I said before, I wish I had written that, the only thing I disliked about it was the strong similarity between your piece and Crescents sample, as they are posted side by side I couldn't help but notice :-) tjames, I wasn't comfortable reading this, perhaps because you chose to write it in a more stilted style to match the emotions behind your "characters" recounting. jgeorge, I loved the idea behind your story, your disobedient character made me smile. Dialyn, another belter of a piece, the only thing I didn't like was the last line, it seemed tagged on to the end of your story. Awayne, I liked your idea of using road signs as a basis for characters. So, I'm struggling, I really liked three in particular, jstro, jgeorge & Dialyn. For story it's jgeorge For polished piece it's jstro For confrontation it's Dialyn You're all winners as far as I'm concerned, but this month I'm voting for.. jgeorge, whose story overcame her difficulty writing in a second language and was full of an original confrontation that I identified with as a writer. well done.